Unfortunately, Robby Andrews is going to get DQd from men's 1500 semi (Update, he's been DQd)

Vurleen Manlei wrote:

The real problem is the roulette-style appeals process where a runner like Bustos takes seven steps on the infield and gets advanced to the final despite placing dead effin' last. There's no rhyme or reason to the appeals process, which in this Olympics has looked more like World Wrestling Federation rules than any kind of consistent rules-based adjudication process.

The real kicker is that the runner who clearly fouled/tripped Bustos, causing him to stumble into the infield, was none other than the Ugandan who came across the line sixth and benefited from the Andrews DQ.

Comically f'd up.

Before this meet, I thought IAAF was a step up from the stupid/corrupt advancement decisions of USATF. But IAAF has now shown itself to be just as bad.

sp2 wrote:

Robby needs to go get himself in some fast races in Europe now, and show everybody 1) just how fit he is, and 2) that he's capable of closing hard off a

serious pace, not just a jog-fest, and beating some studs in the process.

(I don't think he'll be able to do that if he spots them 15 meters and 10 guys to weave around at the bell.)

Let's see it, Robby. Go to Europe, and show us a 3:32 (which I think he's probably capable of right now).

Then come back next year with even more confidence, more respect, more experience, and --FINALLY-- the understanding that against top competition, you DO need to be a little more conscientious and smart about mid-race positioning.

Then the Big Boys will take you seriously next year for the first time.

I'd love to see that.

Agreed, I think he runs 3:32 in the right race in the near future. I'd see that a nice confidence boost to keep him stoked for next year. I also don't think he would have medaled in the final, but agree that he would have made things interesting at the end

What Robby needs to do is wake up and learn to race. He needs to learn to keep himself out of stupid spots (like this one) and put himself in position to be successful. He races like a high school kid.

If he has a brain, he will watch replays of Mathew Centrowitz's races. He is always in the right place, does not get in trouble. Robby might have a better kick than Centro, he is just never in the right place.

This was easily avoidable with his talent. Unfortunatly for him the talent is only from the neck down.

I've noticed that Andrews often closes on the inside or goes really wide. It seems like it's just a better idea to run a couple extra meters in the first couple laps, to put yourself in position for a kick. I personally think he's a world-class championship-style racer, as far as his abilities go. If he can fix it his approach, I would not be too surprised if he he picked up a top-five medal at worlds.

Top-five place, that is. Not sure what the medal for that would be...brass or tin?

If we allow passing on the infield it will change racing forever. Dumb move, he's out. But he's young.

And if they continue to allow effed up DQs and denied appeals, it'll be status quo.

It was a great tactic. He's screwed. And no one here at Centro Central gives a fvck..

Andrews had space to pass but just as he goes pass the Ethiopian gives a him a decent shove with his left elbow and knocks him off balance. Wasnt as blatant as the Rodriguez incident in the 2009 WC where Rodriquez clearly had space on the inside to make a pass because the Ethiopian Berka was wide covering the runner coming up on her outside. The Ethiopian noticed Rodriguez, then just moved back to the inside pushing her off the track. This latest incident was much more subtle. Still going for such a small space up the inside is always a dangerous move.

It seems fairly simple - RA's standard race tactic of sit and kick is risky...and highly risky at Olympic level. Also, Centro and Willis have an innate savvy and the physical agility to get to themselves to the front when it matters. I'm not sure that savvy and agility can be coached/learned.

An interesting note is that Robby lost 3rd place his freshman year of high school to this exact tactic (guy passed on the inside and had to go off the track). Don't know if he even remembers it and unfortunately it was discussed on Dyestat, but it was controversial at the time.

1 726 Sharif Webb SR DON BOSCO 1:51.07

2 1091 Jason Apwah SR ROXBURY 1:51.71

3 686 Matt Poskus SR CINNAMINSON 1:52.37

4 849 Robby Andrews SO MANALAPAN 1:52.56

Francophile wrote:

Top-five place, that is. Not sure what the medal for that would be...brass or tin?

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Tin

Paper

So yeah, it'd be paper.

B¡tch if you're gonna quote me, quote the whole thing. The tactic worked. The appeals process failed. You're just reinforcing that failure by not acknowledging it, and by pretending that Andrews wasn't fouled.

Andrews ran a good race, despite being blatantly fouled, and the IAAF has tainted the 1500m finals by eliminating a medal contender from the race. It's not difficult to discern the IAAF's agenda, and it's impossible not to see some resentment toward Andrews here for his success.

Even if Centrowitz manages to bronze, the question will be whether he was even the best American in Rio. You wanna win against the best, you gotta race against the best.

At this point, I don't think the race is legitimate anymore, and this whole ghetto Olympics approach needs to be rethought.

I've seen some arguments on Twitter about how it was dumb he was DQ'd, but long story short he did break a rule of track and field, even if it was on a straight way and didn't move up any spots.

Just like when Montano tried to go through B-Mart, but much to Montano's surprise, B-Mart was made of matter. You can't just run through people.